The Ingenious Novice
by Verboten Byacolate
Summary: Life can be described as wanting one thing and getting another. For instance, wishing for childlike innocence, and recieving a mission that requires constant watch over a testosterone stimulated Neji. Tenten knows this. So why does she feel so anxious?
1. Normal Thursday

_A/N;_ Yes, this is a new fic, dedicated to those who have read _Beyond Obsession_ and have not come at me with murderous intent for not finishing. To those who haven't read it... please spare yourself the torture.  
_Disclaimer_; I do not claim thee, fair Neji. Ye with the vacant eyes and whale-ass hair, thou doth not belongeth to me. (Nor anybody else, but it makes me saddest to admit the above statement.)

**The Ingenious Novice**

What would become the most difficult mission of her Chuunin life began as normal as any other day. The starting point landed on Thursday morning. Tenten had gone about her daily routine: stretch, trudge to bathroom, shower, fall _out_ of said shower, choose breakfast (canned or boxed? Nah, oatmeal works), make breakfast, burn said breakfast, eat it anyway, do hair, and trip out the door still tying hitai-ate. The only difference between this morning and the rest was that she was walking to the Hyuuga compound and not the training grounds.

That, and her heart was pounding like crazy.

_"Tenten. Your mission won't be out of Konoha, so no need to pack anything." __Tsunade gave the Chuunin a serious look. "Last time Hyuuga Neji was dischared from the hospital, Monday, if my records serve me right, I was informed of an... incident." The Hokage had a small sneer playing on her lips. "Apparently, one of the newer interns who was supposed to take care of Neji's semi-annual flu shot had injected him with Alpha-Lipoic acid--"_

_Tenten's eyes grew wide and anxious. Her stomach churned, and suddenly, she felt a horrible dread pinprick her heart. Tsunade seemed to notice and shook her head. "No... it's nothing deadly," she explained. "Basically, instead of a flu shot, Neji was given a testosterone stimulant."_

_The girls's heart skipped a beat of relief before completely registering the Godaime's words. "And... you're sending me to do what?"_

_"You are to keep a tab on all of his actions. The substance shouldn't be harmful, but it's a new product, and it was marked very similarly to the influenza vaccine, which is why this incident even took place."_

_"How often, Hokage-sama?"_

_"Constant watch."_

_Tenten blanched. "You want me to spend an extended period of time alone with a hormone-driven Hyuuga Neji?" She thought for s second. "Not to say that it wouldn't be terribly interesting to hand around a side of Neji that didn't have a stick shoved up his--" _

_Remembering her audience, Tenten stopped. _

_"It's not that we don't have your virtue in mind," Tsunade said offhandedly, rifling through one of the smaller piles of papers on her desk, "but you see, the drug leaves him completely helpless in the face of sexual attraction when stimulated, and if we send a male shinobi to watch him..." She let the sentence hang. "You know, the last child born to a shinobi was Kurenai's? The kid's two now."_

_Tenten got the hint. _

_"One more thing you should know; Neji must not know that he has been injected with the stimulant. Remember that. Do you accept your mission, Tenten?"_

_The Chuunin bit back a sigh. She was practically being forced upon a hormonal teenage boy, and they were only seventeen! Then again... more rationally, she had to remind herself-- this was **Neji**. He'd be practiced in fighting boy-to-manhood-ly urges by now. Plus, he was a Hyuuga. It was hard-wired into him to be a tight ass. It would be no different than the peek of his puberty, a couple years ago, right? Hormones would be little more than germs to the man. This would be nothing._

_"I accept, Tsunade-sama."_

_And if anything DID happen... well, better her than some other girl. She had the feeling that she'd be insanely jealous if the Hokage had intrusted this mission to Sakura, who Tsunade trusted more, or (if child-bearing were truly the desired outcome of this "mission") Ino, who could tempt any man out of his stoic shell. _

_With this in mind, she was glad it was her._

But that didn't mean she wasn't nervous as hell. When the gates of the Hyuuga compound closed behind her, she'd never heard the sound it made so ominous before.

Tenten had been informed by Tsunade-sama that Neji's hormones would begin to react to the drug in the next couple of days, give or take. To a normal boy of his age, it would have come full-force by Tuesday, but to a normal shinobi of the same age, it would just begin on Wednesday. Neji topped both, being a Hyuuga, so if there had been nothing so far, it was sure to come soon. _"It wouldn't be nothing, though,"_ she remembered from Tsunade's briefing. _"He was given a pretty powerful dosage. He's probably had morning erections ever since the injection, so maybe he's noticed something, if such occurrances aren't common for him."_

"Geez," Tenten mumbled, waving to the guards as she passed. "That really wasn't necessary, Tsunade-sama. It's not like he'll _tell_ me if he's had... that."

It was mortifying to even think it to herself. Was this her immaturity peeking through? It was, wasn't it. Tenten squared her shoulders in passing Hinata's small vegetable garden around the Branch house's corner. "I am absolutely too old to be embarassed by a mere word."

_It's not age, you idiot_, a voice in the back of her mind chided. _It's experience... or lack thereof on your part_.

Tenten grudgingly agreed as she pushed open the sliding door to the house's entrance. She was almost immediately bombarded by a small group of children. Their vigor nearly toppled her over as multiple teal seals stampeded gracefully around her, giving nearly incoherant shours of "Let's train!" and "Byakugan!" and "I'm gonna Jyuuken like Nii-sama!"

The weapon specialist grinned. She loved kids-- especially over-eager ones like these, who hadn't yet reached the Byakugan _or_ Jyuuken ability that they so desired. They hadn't yet taken on the hereditary Hyuuga solemnity either. To see such joy in those brilliant white eyes made her wish that she could have seen Neji as a young child.

Unfortunately, she realized while taking off her shoes and padding quietly to Neji's room, the experiences to come would not be those of a particularly childish nature.

- To be continued -

**As stated in my profile, this is sort of a more light-hearted version of Dementia Praecox, with the obvious differences and subtley similar plotline. I hope to update the two in tandum! Please support me (as opposed to the kicking and the hitting, because we don't likes the kicking and the hitting, no we don't...)  
As always and forever, reviews make me jig like a little Irish person, so please...  
-Bya  
(fics like this remind me why I love writing so much.)**


	2. Babysitting Liar

_Disclaimer_; I do not claim thee, fair Tenten. Ye with hair that, in the shape of silhouette, remindeth me of Mickey Mouse. Ye maketh me hungry for manju. And still I do not own you.

_2- Babysitting Liar_

Neji answered Tenten's knock with a low "Enter" and so she did. The room hadn't changed much since Tenten had last visited. It was still neat, tidy, organized, and very... white. All of the Hyuuga compound was white (except, according to popular rumor, the late Hizashi's room, which was apparently a very light gray) but Neji's seemed exceptionally so. The boy himself rose from his meditative stance on the floor and greeted her.

"I've only been gone for three days, and still I would have expected to see you sooner, Tenten."

She grinned. "But where's the surprise if you know when I'm going to come, huh?" Tenten's shoulder brushed his forearm as she passed and plunked herself down on his western-style bed. "Hi, Neji."

He nodded, seating himself on the floor once more.

"How did you know I would be here?" he asked tonelessly, predicting her answer.

"Well, I passed your private training ground, and you weren't there. So if not training, where else would you be?"

"A number of places," he countered. "The bathhouse, for example."

"Before noon? Doubtful."

"In the kitchens."

"Since when does Hyuuga Neji cook for his own pleasure?" she scoffed. "Even I don't do that, and _I'm_ the girl."

"With Hinata-sama."

"She's on a mission." Tenten gave him a smirk that he knew all too well (having seen it a couple of times himself while looking in the mirror). "Don't even mention the garden. I passed that too. Obviously," she fell back onto a pillow, folding her arms behind her head, "your options are pretty limited when you're stuck in the compound."

"It was simply a flu shot," he seemed to think out loud. "Why would I be instructed to stay here for nearly a week afterwords? It's crazy."

Ah. So this is where the genius proves to be a novice.

"Hey, Neji," Tenten started casually, staring up at his ceiling. "Have you noticed anything... weird lately?" She paused. "About yourself?"

"I don't know what you mean," he replied drily. "If you have something to say, say it."

Tenten sighed. It was time to be blunt. Honestly, she was unable to predict his reaction. This sort of thing was so incomprehensible that there WAS no proper reaction.

"What the intern gave you wasn't a flu shot, Neji. It was a hormonal stimulant. You're being ordered to stay here you you don't go crazy as a random moment and ravage some poor, innocent townswoman."

... or that's what she _would_ have said ever so bluntly (as Neji wished), if he had not ben given the absolute order NOT to let him know. Why Tsunade wished for him to be kept in the dark she did not know, but an order was anorder, and she followed her orders like a good shinobi should. So instead of being honest, Tenten came up with the most plausible lie she could think of.

"I've been given orders to babysit you, Neji. They think they might have made a mistake in the dosage of medication, and I'm supposed to watch for any odd side effects."

Well, it was more or less half the truth. She was terrible at lying, but she thought she'd sounded pretty convincing. Neji was... quiet. She looked up, craning her neck to see him over her chest. He was staring at her with a certain intensity that made her spine tingle.

"How long?" he finally asked. Tenten blinked, not quite expecting him to acept his rank as 'babysat' so soon.

"Um... until next Thursday, I think."

"A week to observe a possible overdose when my family could do the same?" His eyes narrowed. "Tenten..."

Oh, manju buns! An excuse! Quick!

"Fine. I lied."

Neji smirked, an I-wasn't-fooled-for-a-second aura seeming to seep from his very pores. The smirk was expectant nonetheless, and claiming to have lied had bought her the time needed for _another_ lie. She slumped her shoulders slightly and rolled o her side, picking at the corner of his pillow. "The part about the overdose is true..." lie, "...so I'm... I was worried... I don't know if your family will pay the amount of attention you may need, so..."

More silence on his part. Tenten sprang into an upward sitting position, eyes pleading. "Please let me watch after you, Neji!"

He regarded her carefully. She'd lied to him once, and he had the inkling that she wasn't being entirely truthful now. But her dishonesty wasn't the only thing that worried him. There was something wrong with her eyes. They pierced into him with a trange intensity that stirred an even stranger reaction in him. Was it actually the reaction incited that made him anxious?

Her look made certain body systems run amuck, and said systems tore free from his control even more persistantly as she began to drop off the bed and crawl over to him.

"Neji..." Hist fists clenched and found his palms oddly clammy. "I know it's silly..." Her hands rested on the floor before his knees, as close as she could possibly be without touching him, and the warmth that radiated from her flesh licked over his, the sensation triggering an increase in heartrate. "... but I'm your teammate after all." Those warm brown eyes shifted to the white floor before she forced them into his. "And I'm worried. So please, Neji, say I can!"

On a normal Thursday morning, Tenten made a discovery that none had before: Neji had an Adam's apple. And it moved when her wrists accidentally brushed his knees.

The normality of that Thursday was, in truth, nonexsistant. Just ask Neji's blood pressure.

- To be continued -

**Oh my gosh. The sheer amount of reviews for the first chapter is absolutely lawlzpwnzorz. I have no right to beg for more, since Tenten and Neji do not belong(eth) to me. But you know I will.  
-bug eyes-  
The things just serve to pressure me to a faster update, you know. 8D (wink wink, nudge nudge)  
-Bya**


	3. Extended Sleepover

_Disclaimer_; I do not claim thee, fair Hiashi. Ye who is the most misunderstood, quite "loving" to thine smexy nephew, and yet so neglectful to thine own DAUGHTER. I am indeed quite thankful that I owneth thee not.  
Rawr.

_3- Extended Sleepover_

"By constant surveillance..." Neji started, inching slowly away from Tenten, "do you mean..."

"Night and day!" she quipped cheerfully. "When I overheard Tsunade-sama and Shizune-san's conversation, I gathered that the side effects could occur at any possible moment. You could have a sudden outburst of testos..." Well, shit. He was looking at her funny.

"What?"

"Sorry." She laughed sheepishly, falling on her backside. "My mind wasn't where my mouth was. I meant to say that you could have an undesirable side effect at any time, and it's my duty to make sure nothing happens to you."

"Your... duty?"

Tenten smiled. "As a friend, it's my duty to take care of you."

Something in Neji's stomach knotted. _A friend, huh?_ Maybe the tea was bad. Outdated or something.

_As a **friend**._

That had to be it. Bad tea. He'd get someone to throw it out later.

"Say, Neji," Tenten startedm resting her elbows on her bent knees, "you didn't answer my question. Have you noticed anything weird lately?"

He didn't have to think long before a watered-down version of HInata's patented pink dusted his ears. There was something odd... the past few mornings he'd experienced an... ahem... _visitor_ that normally only showed after a night of consuming alcohol, or something else to loosen his resistance. But he couldn't tell Tenten _that_.

"Nothing of note," he said, his composure still intact. Or so he thought. Tenten had definitely glimpsed the sudden color change in his ears.

"I see." There was no need to bring it up... just now. "So we're clear then; I'm going to stay with you for a week." Neji nodded.

"Are you prepared to live like the Hyuuga for an entire week?" he asked in pure speculation. "It's very likely that the others will want to... test your abilities. They won't go easy on you."

"No sweat, Neji. I'll treat it like a mission." She smiled. "And besides, when did _you_ ever go easy on me?" Tenten sat on her haunches and looked at him for a minute. "So what do I need to know?"

Neji rested his hands on his knees. "Before anything else, we'll need Hiashi-sama's permission."

"Right." She grinned. "Let's go then!"

Neji realized that he hasn't allowed his tone to be as foreboading as it should have been, and jumped up to block her when she stood. "I don't think you understand the weight of the situation," he said slowly. "Hiashi-sama is--"

"Clan head, enforcer of your fate, and the object of your fear-laced hatred in previous years. The only one who gets you to break a sweat during a spar. Yes, Neji, I get it. But why delay the inevitable?"

"Plenty of reasons," he deadpanned. "First and foremost, you are ill-prepared."

"Ill prepared for _what_?" she shot incredulously. "We just have to request that I stay the week, right? If we tell him that it's a mission, he'll have no objections, yes?"

"There are a few complications that must be--"

"Come on, Neji." Tenten put her fists on her hips and gave her teammate a stern look. "Have you forgotten that I spend days on end with you? I've been at the receiving end of Hyuuga abuse for longer than probably any outsider in Fire country. I think I can take asking an elder about an extended sleepover."

His arguements were put on hold as he realized that she was pretty much... right.

_Dammit_.

She brushed past him, exiting the white room into the white hallway. He had little choice but to follow. After all, she wouldn't know where to find Hiashi, and tearing the Hyuuga compound apart in search wouldn't exactly set the best possible first impression. Neji trailed after her in the hall until they reached the door. Then she paused, turning to him.

"Ah... Neji... just so you know, if you need anything... if you feel weird... you can tell me." Tenten smiled and pushed open the door. "Now, where on earth could Ojii-sama be?"

- To be continued -

**I'll be gone for a few weeks. Church camp. Awkward family reunion. Waterproofing fences. Air-rifling the bodies of pesky squirrels. You know. Busy.  
Please review for me, my dearest friends!  
(Especially you, Zetssan, you lazy harlot. Screw your "first chapter rule." -shakefist-)  
-Bya**


	4. Famous Last Words

After reading (and reareading over and over) Zinbuki-san's _Another Ingenious Novice_ (because she finally UPDATED, FSHAW), I decided that it would probably be a good time for me to get these old bones working again as well. So, long time no see!  
_Another Ingenious Novice_ exceeds this dinky thing in awesomeness by at least tenfold. Go look it up. It's got Hinata (which automatically makes it the best fic ever). It's got Shino (therefore, it has the potential to shoot the moon with sexy). So you should **definitely **go read it.

* * *

_4- Famous Last Words_

Luckily for them, the answer to Hiashi's whereabouts came in the form of a sulking Naruto. He trudged down the street, hands shoved in his pockets, lower lip stuck out far enough to act as a bucket should rain begin to fall. According to the grumbling boy, Tsunade had promptly kicked him out of her office when the head of the Hyuuga clan had made his appearance. It was an insult to his pride as a man and a ninja, so after offering the information in such a helpful way, he stalked off to brood at Ichiraku.

"That was easy."

Neji offered his silent agreement and they turned in the direction of the Hokage Tower.

Taking their time in strolling along, once they had reached the Tower, Hyuuga Hiashi was walking calmly from the front door. It struck Tenten as odd-- one would think that a man with such an important air wouldn't simply walk through the front door. The lack of red carpet and hand-servants puzzled her. Her mind then travelled to thoughts of Hiashi the Super Ninja, flying across the rooftops as silent as a shadow, rescuing hair-care products in distress...

"Nephew," he greeted. "Tenten-san."

She was pleased at his memory, having half-expected him to call her "Nephew's teammate."

"Good morning, Uncle," Neji greeted in response.

"Did you seek me out purposefully, or are we merely exchanging pleasantries before I retire from being a blockade to the doors?"

"We came to inform you of a mission."

Tenten mentally nodded, impressed by Neji's smooth presentation truth-turned-almost-lie.

"Proceed," Hiashi said.

"Sir, I'm supposed to keep constant surveillance on Neji for the next week. I'm afraid I can only spare a few details. The whole story would probably bring the hospital's reputation to medical ruin." _It already has for me, after all. What kind of purpose does a hormonal stimulant serve, for heaven's sake?_

Hiashi seemed to think for a moment, and as Tenten had begun to form smart-sounding excuses in her mind, he spoke up.

"I understand. How close will you need to be for this constant surveillance?"

Tenten could practically feel the surprise radiate from Neji in waves. Her own was barely controlled, and the raise in eyebrows had escaped before she could stop them. Gathering her bearings, she answered.

"As close as possible."

"Very well. You will be staying in Neji's room."

This day was turning out to be much less difficult than Tenten had thought it would be. Almost too easy.

"Uncle, have you thought this through?"

Oh, that was why. Neji had to play his faithful role as the Debbie Downer. Hiashi regarded him with the familial-loving cool indifference that she was oh so familiar with.

"Nephew, the doubtful tone in your voice suggests that you have not seen this assignment of Tenten-san's as a mission. Being a mission, we as ninja must treat it with proper dilligence. She will be staying in your room."

Tenten waited until the clan head brushed past them to throw Neji a winning smile.

"Easy peasy. I don't know what _you're_ worrying about."

Famous last words from a kunoichi who had plenty to worry about herself.

* * *

**I updated, favorite hooligan lettuce. Your turn~**


End file.
